The Brexit Vote: Should Africa Be Concerned?

Published on 4th July 2016

University of Pretoria Professor or Lecturer on Redi Tlhabi's show on 23rd June spoke about the UK and South Africa being "trade partners." They are not trade partners. Britain is a former imperial and colonial power and the relationship between these two countries remains the same to this day. This is true of the relationship between another imperial power - the US - and South Africa as evidenced by the one month ultimatum the former gave to the latter relating to the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Professor Yash Tandon says, “Trade is no doubt vital for the welfare of human beings. We produce food; we produce other means of physical and social existence. We need to sell what we produce. People have been trading since time immemorial. Trade does not have to be war. It can be a means to peaceful development of the world’s people – it can be, and has been in past centuries. But in our times it is not. With the dawn of Capitalism, trade has become a weapon of war between the rich nations of the West and the rest of the world.

I need to explain the use of the word ‘war.’ It is not war with bombs and drones. But trade can be as lethal, and as much of a ‘weapon of mass destruction,’ as bombs. Trade in the capitalist-imperial era kills people; it drives people into poverty; it creates wealth at one end and poverty at another; it enriches the powerful food corporations at the cost of marginalising poor peasants; it turns the poor into economic refugees in their own countries, or migrants – at least those who can and dare to cross the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe, or across the seas from South Asia to Australia, or from the Mexican border to the USA. Today these migrants make vital contributions to the economy and culture of the host peoples. But, they also become targets of attack by neo-fascist and racist elements in these societies.”

South Africa had nothing to do with the UK referendum but on the morning of June 24, Dan Moyane of eNCA was busy saying that the Rand took a knock because of the outcome of the referendum whose results were 48.1% in favour of staying within the European Union (EU) and 51.9% in opting out. Moyane splashed the following figures on the television screen:

These exchange rates show that the West and South Africa are not trade partners. If anything, South Africa is a junior partner. During apartheid years, the West and South Africa were perhaps trade partners because the rand was worth more than all the West’s individual currencies. However, the African people’s cheap labour was exploited, that’s probably the reason the Rand was worth more than the major currencies of the world’s countries.

Russian Television reported that the Sterling Pound nose-dived following Britain’s exit from the EU. Local and international media outlets continued on the 27th June to report that the value of the Sterling Pound Sterling without examining how and why the Rand and the Sterling Pound depreciated, if that depreciation was justified, whether market forces are responsible for exchange rate regimes, self-regulatory, perform better than governments and that money is neutral.For example, the Rand plummeted after the appointment by President Jacob Zuma of Des Van Royen as Finance Minister. While this was an obvious blunder by Zuma, it was unjustifiable for currency speculators to subject the Rand to speculative attack to which it is still suffering, leaving the population to reel from this shock. There are mechanisms that the South African government can employ to offset these speculative attacks on the Rand by, as some economists argue, resorting to limited discretionary policies that enable central banks to pursue monetary and fiscal policies according to the changing needs of their economies. However, control of the Reserve Bank is another conundrum. The monetary and fiscal policies are a topic on their own and can be tackled in another article.

While the West, including the UK try to unite, they have not only discouraged the African continent from uniting but have also put the spanner in the works of Africa's continental unity or Pan Africanism. When African leaders spoke about Pan Africanism more than fifty years ago, the West said that the forging of a continental unity by Africa’s leaders was a pipe dream. But strange enough, theirs is not a pipe dream.

There are lessons that can be learnt from the staging of the UK referendum. What impresses me the most is the fact that Europeans respect their people and institutions. When there is a crucial issue, they resort to referendums to give their people a chance to decide their destiny. There are many issues in South Africa that warrant referendums but for the past twenty two years, the ANC has not called a single referendum or at least a plebiscite. After backing the wrong horse in the referendum and losing, British Prime Minister, David Cameron, resigned. Here at home and in Africa, whatever the extent and magnitude of a scandal, it is unheard of that a head of state can resign.

Europeans seem to enjoy autonomy which their ruling elite deny us. Their electoral systems also appear to be iron-clad and they use proper and secure ballot boxes and not the card board boxes the ANC-controlled IEC uses but they (the West) interfere in our affairs and choose leaders and political parties for us. For example, about a month ago, the Star reported that officials from the British Defence Force were in South Africa to make sure that the ANC wins the next general elections. And it was also the West which installed the ANC as a government in 1994.

Our journalists should expend their energies and efforts in the direction of Africa's continental unity instead of being preoccupied with the unity of Europeans or Pan Europeanism. Before telling their listeners and viewers about trade partnerships and devaluation of currencies, they must do their research instead of the imbibing and regurgitation they often do.

By Sam Ditshego

The writer holds a post graduate certificate in Development Economics and Policy Making.